Shadows
by madladypoet
Summary: Castiel calls on Sam and Dean for a favor, and the brother’s head to Point Pleasant, West Virginia where they find a dying town full of their darkest secrets. Lucifer makes an appearance. A new character named Imani is introduced.
1. Chapter 1

Shadows

Castiel calls on Sam and Dean for a favor, and the brother's head to Point Pleasant, West Virginia where they find a dying town full of their darkest secrets. Lucifer makes an appearance. A new character named Imani is introduced.

Sam, Dean, Bobby and Castiel watched the flames consume the photograph of their last hunt with Ellen and Jo. Cas didn't understand why the last photograph of Jo and Ellen was being burnt, but it seemed to be some sort of hunters ritual. Looking over at Dean's face, Castiel tried to discern what his human friend must be feeling, but he couldn't tell. Cas, himself, wasn't sure what he felt. Although he didn't know them well, Cas liked Ellen and Jo; they were really good people, which, as Cas had painfully learned, was a rare thing to find on earth. Looking over at Bobby, Cas saw the pain on his face and Cas finally understood what was happening here: grief. Sam, Dean and Bobby were each grieving in their own way. Grieving for the loss of their friends, who sadly, had died needlessly, grieving for the loss of two women whose love and compassion would be missed, and for Dean, grieving for the loss of someone who could have been a great love. Looking at Dean's face again, Cas saw the grief that would always be etched there and finally understood what Dean was feeling.

That's when Cas decided to leave.

Quietly exiting the house, Cas walked with purpose through Bobby's salvage yard. Gathering himself, Cas disappeared through time and space. Within seconds, he was standing in front of her house. As he always did, Cas toyed with the idea of not going in. Since arriving on earth, Cas had been consistently warned that an angel's involvement with human women only led to disaster and thus, he had avoided doing so. Even when Dean took him to the brothel, Cas had avoided intimacy with the woman by telling her about her father. Cas knew himself well enough. He would have told that woman the truth anyway, but he also knew that he couldn't take advantage of her. Besides, the woman he really wanted was inside the house he was standing in front of.

Cas shuddered. He was putting Imani in danger just by being around her, but he couldn't stay away.

Instantly, Cas flashed himself inside the house and found her asleep on the couch in the living room. She was dressed in boots, jeans, and a fisherman's sweater. Her long dark curls were shielding her face and the dark skin on her arms, where the sleeves were pushed up, revealed a disturbingly large bruise and the insignia of a swastika branded on her skin. Cas walked over to the couch and gently laid a rose he found outside next to Imani's arm. She smiled in her sleep and slowly opened her eyes. Cas sat himself in a chair and watched her pull herself up. Her long dark curls cascaded down her back as Imani picked up the rose and put it to her lips. She smiled again, and Cas felt his heart do a flip.

"Thank you, Cas." she said, "It's beautiful." She turned the rose over thoughtfully. "What's the occasion?"

Never one to mince his words, Cas looked at her and said, "Jo and Ellen Harvelle are dead."

Imani's face went pale, and she looked at Cas with sincere horror. Cas could see tears gather in the corners of her eyes, and he was almost sorry that he said anything at all. Cas had brought Ellen and Jo to Point Pleasant a couple of weeks ago to meet Imani, and the three women had gotten on famously. Now, Ellen and Jo were dead, and Cas feared that with the work that Imani was doing, she would be a target next.

"I want you to quit the work that you are doing," said Cas. "Right now, it is too dangerous."

Imani drew in a long breath and looked at Cas. "I can't do that."

"Imani" began Cas, but she interrupted him.

"I have to do this Cas," she looked at him with pleading eyes. "You know why."

Cas looked at her and sighed. He looked down at her arm. The sleeve was pushed up, revealing the swatiska, and the rather large bruise that he had seen earlier. Cas picked up her arm and pushed back the sleeve. The bruise seemed to extend up her arm. Cas looked up at her with concern.

"Cas," said Imani, "it's nothing."

Cas looked into her eyes, and felt himself lost there. He felt urged or even compelled to react as a human man would have and kiss her. He wanted to pull her into his arms and feel the softness of her skin against his. He wanted to feel her body lying beneath his. Imani was staring at him appealingly as if she wanted him to kiss her. Cas started to move forward, consequences be damned. As he drew near, he looked into Imani's dark brown eyes, and finally understood why the lure of human woman was so strong and why so many angels, particularly the nephilim, fell from grace. Cas knew that he was risking both of their lives, but in that moment, he did not care.

Luckily or not, Cas was saved by the bell.

Imani turned and grabbed her cell phone. She flipped it open, and her face turned pale. "It's Simon."

Grabbing Cas's arm, the angel flashed both of them to a house outside of the city. The house was dark and was already in a partial state of disrepair. Cas felt extremely uneasy, but Imani was already heading for the door. Cas flew up in front of her and opened the door. The house smelled musty as if no one had lived there for some time.

"Simon lives here?" whispered Cas questioningly as he and Imani entered the house.

"It was his family home," said Imani turning on the flashlight. Turning the beam around, Imani revealed each corner of the house, but other than cobwebs, the house appeared to be cold and silent.

"Imani?" said a voice quietly. "Is that you?"

Imani began to move toward the kitchen with Cas not far behind her. She responded, "Yeah, Simon, it's me." Moving the flashlight back and forth, she did not see him which began to add to her fear. Entering the kitchen, Cas and Imani recoiled in horror. Simon was standing on a stool with a noose around his neck. Gathering herself, Imani stepped from behind Cas and moved forward to talk to Simon.

"Simon," she began, "we've talked about this." Imani felt herself shaking, but fought to control it. "You are alive." She reached up her hand to take Simon's. "You have come through the worse of it." Gently, she grasped his hand. "Please take that noose off and come down."

Simon stared into Imani's eyes and began to cry. "I can't." He reached behind himself and tighten the noose. "He is coming."

"Who?" asked Castiel, trying to distract Simon, while concentrating on breaking the ceiling beam where Simon had thrown the rope over.

"Lucifer," whispered Simon. "He's coming to torture me again."

"Simon," said Imani in her gentlest voice, "We've talked about this." "Lucifer did not torture you."

"No," snapped Simon, "It was his vessel, Sam Winchester."

Both Imani and Cas stopped cold and stared at each other. How did Simon know Sam Winchester? Taking advantage of their distraction, Simon jumped off of his chair and a sickening crack followed with his neck cleanly breaking. Imani screamed and tried to reach up and undo the noose, but Castiel restrained her in his arms.

"Imani," he whispered in her ear, "it's too late."

Crying, she turned and buried her face in his chest as Cas grabbed his cell phone and called the police.

The police came within ten minutes of Cas's call. The retrieval of Simon's body was a perfunctory affair with the police only asking a few questions of Imani and Cas. When the coroner came to retrieve Simon's body, Imani went outside to sit on the front porch. Cas took one last look at the body and especially memorized the face. Simon was an ordinary looking man at best with dark brown hair and brown eyes. Like Imani, he had a few scars on his arms from the torture he endured. He didn't know Simon well, but knew from Imani that Simon had been possessed by a demon and had been tortured by Sam Winchester, who, Cas believed, thought he was actually exorcising demons. Leaning over, Cas made the sign of a cross on Simon's forehead. Although Cas was a fallen angel, he knew that this symbol would force heaven to acknowledge Simon and perhaps give him entrance into heaven.

Cas walked away and onto the front porch where Imani was waiting for him. She had her arms wrapped around her body and stared at Cas. She had stopped crying, but her eyes were still red. She looked as though she was preparing to say something, but Cas cut her off immediately.

"No," said Cas. "The Winchesters do not need to come here."

Imani looked at Cas and managed a wan smile. "Cas," she replied, "the Winchesters are the key to everything." She stopped and shook her head to regroup, then looked back up at Cas again. "If they are here, perhaps, these victims can find some peace."

Cas turned from her and sighed. He knew that she was right, but felt that it would be too dangerous to have Sam and Dean in Point Pleasant. Cas felt a hand gently grasp his shoulder and turn him around. "Cas, I need to find some peace." She reached into his pocket and put the cell phone in his hand. "Make the call."

With that, she walked off the front porch. Cas pulled open his phone and pulled up his list of contacts. Scrolling down, he found Dean's number, but paused. Looking up, he stared at Imani. He couldn't bear it if something happened to her. Moving his thumb, he pressed send.

"Hello?" came Dean's voice from the other end.

"Dean," said Cas, "I need a favor."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_Route 2, West Virginia_

Dean spent the last 12 hours driving until he was pretty sure that he had lost all feeling down the right side of his body. Staring into the darkness of West Virginia Route 2, Dean wondered what lay in store for him and Sam in Point Pleasant. Cas had not provided much in the way of explanation beyond saying the word, "Lucifer" and calling in his first favor. Looking over at his sleeping brother, Dean was worried that this would provide Lucifer with another chance to convince Sam to say yes. Although Sam would not admit it, Dean had to wonder how much damage Ruby had inflicted and how much Sam had enjoyed the power he felt under her influence. What's even worse, Dean thought, he understood how Sam felt, even if he would never admit it to Sam. As he stared into the darkness, Dean felt himself go back to more than one year ago when he was still in hell.

Every day, he picked up a blade and was delivered a fresh batch of new victims to torture. At first, he hated himself and told himself it was just a way to survive. Then, he began to find himself loathing the victims. He remembered feeling that they were so weak and pathetic as they lay there begging for him not to inflict pain. Finally, toward the end of his time in hell, Dean remembered inflicting his worst punishments for those who begged for mercy, and he also remembered enjoying the power he felt over them. He even began branding his victims with a swastika, so that they would never forget him. Dean remembered feeling glad that they were on the table and not him. He remembered feeling empowered for the first time in his life.

It wasn't until he returned to earth that he realized how broken he had become in hell.

Glancing over at Sam again, Dean realized that he should have come clean with his brother and told him the truth about how he really felt about his time in hell. But he couldn't. Dean still felt a responsibility to Sam. A responsibility to be the older brother who set the standard. A responsibility to be the older brother that Sam could look up to. If he told Sam the truth, Dean knew that Sam would never look at him the same way again.

That's why, Dean told himself, he judged Sam so harshly. In some way, he told himself, he was also judging himself.

Suddenly, the Impala jolted as it struck something and ran over it. Dean listened carefully to the car, but didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. The jolt; however, was enough to wake up Sam who was rubbing his eyes and looking around.

"What was that?" he asked, stifling a yawn.

"Don't know," said Dean with a shrug, "Possibly a raccoon."

"Probably a possum," responded Sam who was stretching his arms up, "after all, this is West Virginia."

"Well," said Dean with a smirk, "I guess we just ran over someone's dinner."

Sam merely met Dean's remark with a roll of his eyes. Leaning over the front seat, he grabbed his laptop and cell phone. Opening it up, Sam pulled up some files on Point Pleasant while checking his phone. Dean marveled at how well Sam could seem to multi-task.

"Heard from Cas yet?" asked Sam.

"Not since the initial phone call," replied Dean, "What do we know about Point Pleasant?"

"Well," said Sam, "it is famous for the Mothman sightings back in the late 1960's." "The sightings appeared to coincide with the collapse of the Silver Bridge which killed 46 people." Sam clicked through some more files. "After that, one disaster after another struck the town: the collapse of the coal industry, a plague swept through killing most of the kids in town, and finally, the remaining townspeople disappeared last year." Sam drew in a breath and continued. "The only clue remaining was one word."

"Let me guess," said Dean, "Croatoan."

"Exactly," nodded Sam in affirmation.

"So why does Cas want us to come to a ghost town?" asked Dean.

Sam shrugged, "No idea." "I guess that we will find out when we get there." Looking out, Sam squinted into the darkness. "How much longer?"

Dean made a sound of disgust. "Not a clue." Impatiently, he tapped his finger on the GPS. "This thing stopped working once we got past Huntington."

After that, the brothers rode in silence. Ten miles later, Dean caught sight of the bridge that spanned from Route 2 into Point Pleasant. Surprisingly, the town was lit up, although there were no cars on the road, and no people outside. Dean drove the Impala over the bridge and entered the town which was eerily quiet.

"This is weird," said Dean.

"Very weird," agreed Sam. "We should call Cas."

At that moment, Sam's cell rang. He picked it up and nodded toward Dean.

"Cas," asked Sam, "We're here." "Where do we go?"

Cas gave directions to the local high school, Point Pleasant High School, which was about three miles ahead of them. Sam and Dean kept a sharp lookout for someone, anyone, but found nothing but an empty town. Within minutes, Dean pulled up in front of the school, and the brothers fell into their usual routine. The brothers got out of the car at the same time. Dean kept watch while Sam opened the trunk. Soon after, Dean came to the back and both loaded up on weapons.

"Why do I feel as though we are being led into a trap?" said Dean.

"Cas wouldn't do that to us," said Sam.

"I'm not saying that it's Cas," said Dean, "but it may be whatever is going on this town."

"You're thinking Lucifer may be here," said Sam.

Dean shrugged, "Let's face it." "This town has had more bad luck than we have." "It would be the perfect place for Lucifer to pull his next move."

"I don't know," said Sam as he pointed to the front of the school where Cas stood waiting, "but I guess we are about to find out."

_Conference Room, Point Pleasant High School_

Cas led Sam and Dean led into the conference room and asked them to sit down. He still felt uneasy about bringing the Winchesters here. On the one hand, he felt a loyalty to the brothers that he had thrown over heaven for, yet on the other hand, he didn't feel that neither Imani nor the townspeople of Point Pleasant were ready to see the Winchesters just yet. Either way, thought Cas, this was a bad situation.

Nevertheless, the brothers were here and Imani was waiting to meet them. Despite his misgivings, Cas learned to roll with the punches. Sitting across from Sam and Dean, Cas took a deep breath and began.

"Thank you for coming," he said, "especially after what happened in Carthage."

Dean, never one to mince words, snapped, "So why are we here Cas?"

Cas looked over at Dean with his usual stoic expression, but this time, Dean detected a hint of sadness in the angel and found himself relaxing. Dean realized that he was still hurt and angry over the death of Ellen and Jo, but he soon came to realize that they were Cas's friends too. Still, he was uneasy about their current situation and his mood reflected as much.

Cas had learned to detect Dean's moods and the angel realized that Dean was on fairly shaky ground right now. One more piece of bad news, thought Cas, and Dean might really lose it. That was the last thing that any of them needed, thought Cas, especially Imani. Before Cas could react, the door opened and Imani walked in. This time, she was dressed in form fitting clothes that attenuated her curves. Her long dark hair was framed around her face. Her lips were a deep red and never looked more kissable. Cas felt himself quickly go tense as he could detect a surge in Dean's hormones.

That pissed Cas off.

At that moment, Cas realized that was the wrong reaction. Admittedly, his time on earth allowed him a better understanding of humans, but the subtlety of human emotions still eluded him. Cas couldn't figure out why Dean's physical interest in Imani bothered him so much. All he knew is that at that moment, he wanted to rip Dean's head off.

"Cas," said Imani, bringing him back "are you alright?"

Cas came out of his anger and looked at everyone. Imani looked worried; Sam and Dean looked frightened.

"Yes," said Cas, "I'm fine."

Imani took the chair next to Cas and sat down. The Winchesters, keeping a wary eye on Cas, turned their attention to her. Imani folded her arms in front of her and managed to cast her eyes on Dean. Instantly, Cas saw Dean's eyes go from interest to concern. Cas could her Imani intake a breath as she began to speak.

"My name is Imani, and I am a counselor here in town," she began quietly, "I asked Cas to bring you here because of some events that we have had happen in town." Again, she paused and looked down.

"Miss," said Sam quietly, "can you be specific?"

Imani smiled at Sam gratefully. "As you know, Point Pleasant has a very devastating history."

"Yeah," responded Dean, "we heard this place was a ghost town."

Imani managed a bitter smile in Dean's direction. "In a way, it is a ghost town."

Dean shook his head. "I don't understand."

"You probably noticed how deserted the town was when you arrived," she said, "many people who live here are survivors and this was the only place left for them to go."

"Survivors of what?" asked Sam.

"The war between angels and demons" replied Imani, "most of the people here were possessed by demons or angels and some even escaped from hell." Imani clasped her hands together tightly in front of her. "They come to Point Pleasant because they know no one will look for them in a ghost town. . ."

"Because they are ghosts already" said Sam, finishing her sentence.

"You mean real ghosts?" asked Dean.

Imani had the good grace, thought Cas, to look amused.

"No," she said, "their shadows of themselves." "Many people find an abandoned house to live in and never leave it." "Others spend days just walking around town with nowhere else to go."

"Why are you here?" asked Sam.

"Point Pleasant is my hometown," she said, "I grew up here, went to college at Marshall, and came back to be a counselor at this high school." She stared sadly at the table. "Now I try to help as many people as I can.

"Okay," said Dean with some irritability, "that still doesn't explain why we are here."

Imani looked at him sadly. She took the sleeve of her sweater and pulled it up. It revealed a swastika. Dean immediately recoiled in horror and jumped up out of his chair. Sam looked confused and concerned at his brother's violent reaction and Cas looked ready to fight.

It was awkward.

Imani looked up at Dean and gestured toward his chair. Feeling conciliatory, Dean sat down with Sam and Cas following suit. Imani sat there staring at Dean before she spoke.

"I'm here Mr. Winchester," said she softly, "because I am too a ghost." "I was sent to hell for making a deal to save someone I loved." Softly, her voice began to tremble, "In hell, I was tortured by a man who liked to leave swastika's on his victims."

"Alastair?" asked Sam staring at the mark in horror.

"No," said Dean. "Me."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

_Outside of Point Pleasant High School_

Sam threw open the front doors and stormed out of the building. He had not felt this angry in a long time. The door crashed open behind him with Dean in pursuit. Sam could hear his brother running up behind him, but he kept walking in long strides, so Dean couldn't keep up.

"Sam!" shouted Dean. "Stop!"

Sam stopped and turned around. He was breathing hard, and he could feel rage pumping through his veins. He felt his heart rate increasing, and his eyes go black. Sam made an effort to control himself before he lost it. Breathing in the cold night air, Sam turned to face Dean.

For a moment, Dean recoiled. Even in the darkness, he could see that Sam's eyes were black and that Sam was fighting for control. In an effort to calm his brother down, Dean put his gun down and raised his hands. Behind him, he could hear the door open with Imani and Cas running out to stop Sam and Dean from a confrontation. Signaling Cas to wait for her, Imani walked up toward Sam and softly called his name.

"Sam," she said, "I know that you're angry, but hurting Dean won't change anything." Gently grasping his arm, Imani pulled Sam around to face her. Dean had to give her credit. Despite everything she had been through, she didn't seem to be afraid of anything, especially Sam in full demon mode.

Sam stared down into Imani's soft brown eyes and found his sense of calm. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cas hovering protectively, and for a moment, he envied them. Sam hadn't really loved any woman since Jessica died. Sam knew that Cas probably didn't understand love, but Cas's reactions and body language toward Imani told Sam that what the angel was feeling was love even if Cas didn't know it yet. At Stanford, Sam took a class on religion and learned about the nephilim, angels who fell from grace for desiring human women. Sam didn't know how much of that was true, but seeing Cas and Imani together made him wonder if the angel was holding back for a reason.

Sam took a hold of Imani's arm and pulled up her sleeve. She winced as Sam studied the swastika. Then he looked up at Imani, "Dean did this to you."

"Sam," said Imani softly, "I didn't bring you and your brother to Point Pleasant to punish or to blame." "I brought you here because I need your help."

Sam looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Sam," said Imani patiently, "every person living in this town is a victim."

"I know that," said Sam impatiently.

"Yes," replied Imani, "but what you don't know is that some of these people are your victims, too."

Sam recoiled, but unlike Dean, he didn't react violently. Instead, he looked at Imani and gave a wan smile.

"I figure my day of reckoning would come at some point," he said, "What do you need me to do?"

Imani smiled, "We are going to have a meeting in the school gym tomorrow night." "I think it would help if you and Dean would be there to talk to everyone."

Sam shook his head. "Do you really think that would help?"

"I've been working with these people for months," said Imani, "I think meeting you would help." She held steady to Sam's hand, and he had to admit that he liked the feeling of her fingers curled against his. "Forgiveness, Sam," she said, "ask them for forgiveness and may be you can set them free."

Behind them Dean snorted. "That's bull," he sniped, "no one will ever forgive us."

Imani turned to Dean. "Have you tried?"

Dean opened his mouth, but decided to say nothing. Sam squeezed her hand and continued his walk toward the main road. Dean walked by Imani and said nothing. He didn't, both Cas and Imani noted, even look at her.

_Main Street_

"Sam!" shouted Dean, "Sam!" "Please stop!"

Sam stopped walking and turned to face Dean. Dean was never good at asking for forgiveness, but Sam could see that his brother was going to attempt to do so.

Sam really didn't want to hear it. At this point, he was too angry to forgive Dean. For the last couple of months, Sam had been begging Dean to forgive him for the horrible things he did all the while tolerating Dean's harsh judgments. Now, thought Sam as he watched Dean figure out what he was going to say, Dean going to ask Sam for something he couldn't give to Sam when Sam begged him for it: forgiveness.

"Sammy," said Dean, "Let me explain."

"Explain!" exclaimed Sam as his voice began to rise. "Explain what?"

Sam walked up to Dean and was so close to his brother that he could sense Dean's fear. "How are you going to explain how you made me feel?" "You called me a freak and a liar?" "After I begged for forgiveness, you couldn't wait to get away from me." Sam paused. "Why don't you admit that you only got back together with me because you were afraid that I would say yes to Lucifer?"

Dean's mouth dropped open. "How did you know that?"

Sam's eyes suddenly filled. "I didn't until now."

"Sammy!" said Dean desperately, "I'm . . ."

"You're what exactly?!" demanded Sam, "You're sorry!" "What about you?" Sam began pacing. "You tortured people in hell and you are judging me?"

"You knew that!" exclaimed Dean.

"Yeah," sighed Sam, "but I didn't know how much you enjoyed it until now."

Before Dean could response, Sam turned and walked away from him. Dean wanted to go after his brother, but decided not to. Turning, he walked back to his car.

_Imani's House_

Cas and Imani stood tensely outside the school and listened to Sam and Dean's fight as it echoed back to them over the distance.

"Do you think we should go and intervene?" asked Imani. "It sounds pretty bad."

"No," said Cas putting his hand on her shoulder, "They are brothers; this is how they work things out."

Cas and Imani remained silent as Sam and Dean's voices continued to echo until there was nothing. Imani turned to Cas alarmed. "It's fine," said Cas, "it really is." Cas shook his head. "No matter what happens they find their way back to each other."

Imani managed a wan smile, "Brotherly love, huh?"

Cas shrugged and used his powers to take Imani through time and space back to her house. Once inside, Imani walked over to the couch and collapsed on it. Cas forgot how much his powers took a toll on her. Walking over, he took a throw and tried to put it over her, but Imani forced herself up.

"Do you think that bringing the Winchesters here was a bad idea?" asked Imani.

"Do you really need to ask me that?" replied Cas.

Imani's face broke into a big grin. "Is that a sense of humor I'm detecting?"

Cas blushed. "Maybe."

"Well," said Imani flirtatiously, "I like this new side of you, Cas."

Cas's blush deepen, and after an awkward moment of silence, Imani sobered up.

"This may be the biggest mistake of my life," she admits, "but I know it will work."

"Even if your theory is right," pointed out Cas, "we still have the apocalypse to deal with."

"That's true," admitted Imani, "but at least Lucifer won't have these townspeople to use for his army."

Cas looked shocked. "What are you talking about?"

Imani looked equally shocked. "You don't know what happened here?"

Cas shook his head. "I wasn't here last year."

Imani folded her hands in front of her. Cas noticed that they were shaking. "Since the 1967 bridge collapse, Point Pleasant has suffered through plagues, and other catastrophes." Imani folded and refolded her hands. "Last year, after I returned from hell, I came home and found that the townspeople had been infected with a virus." She looked up at Cas with a pained expression. "A demon virus."

Cas suddenly understood. "You mean Croatoan."

"Yes," said Imani who now had tears pricking her eyes, "One of the first infected was my mother."

Cas leaned over and took one of her hands in his. "She was the one that you sold your soul to the Crossroads demon for."

"Yes," whispered Imani who now had a steam of tears running down her face, "she had cancer." She squeezed Cas's hand. "I couldn't let her die that way." Suddenly, she gave a bitter laugh, "After I was dragged away by the hellhounds, she was not the same." "One of the survivors told me that she had become a bitter, angry person." Imani let out a sigh. "When the virus hit this town," she said, "she was the first infected."

"What happened?" asked Cas.

"She went into the high school and began attacking some of the kids" said Imani whose voice was shaking. "After that, the virus spread incredibly fast." She grabbed a tissue and dried her face. "Within three days, the entire town was infected."

"How did you survive?" asked Cas, who was now massaging her wrist with his thumb.

"I went to Simon's house and we hid out there," said Imani, who was now interlacing her fingers with Cas's. "Eventually, we came back to town and everyone was gone."

"Cas," said Imani, "I've been tracking the places where the Croatoan virus has hit." "Point Pleasant was the first time hit on the east coast." "It also wiped out a town in Oregon and a town in Alaska."

Cas looked thoughtful. "Maybe these towns. . ."

". . .were test sites." Finished Imani. "I think so."

She shuddered and looked at Cas with worried eyes. "What do you think Lucifer has planned for us?"

Cas shook his head. "I don't know."

Imani let go of Cas's hand and buried her face in her hands. A dry sob rose up from her shoulders. Cas, acting on instinct, moved over to the couch and pulled Imani into his arms.

_Outside of Point Pleasant High School_

Dean sat in the darkness. The key was in the ignition but he didn't make a move to start the car. Looking around, he wondered why his and Sam's lives always seemed to suck. From their parent's deaths to Sammy's girl, Jessica, being burned alive to his being sent to hell and a demon-bitch turning Sam into an evil monster.

And that wasn't even the worst of it.

Add in Bobby's paralysis, Sam's discovery that Dean enjoyed torturing people in hell, Castiel being cut off from heaven, and now Jo and Ellen's death, plus the discovery that he was Michael's vessel and that Sam was Lucifer's vessel and the only way to end the apocalypse was for one brother to kill the other.

Yes, it sucked to be a Winchester.

Dean sighed and leaned over to turn on the ignition. He was going to leave Sam alone tonight. Dean knew that he probably shouldn't since Lucifer was out there just waiting for the opportunity to take over Sam, but Dean knew that Sam was agitated enough to hurt him and decided that, for once, he needed to let Sam make his own decisions. If Sam choose to say yes, there was nothing Dean could do to stop it. Given the choices Dean made, he couldn't really blame Sam for being angry with him. Every day, since he escaped hell, Dean punished himself for the horrible things he did. He couldn't imagine that Imani or anyone else would forgive him.

He didn't deserve it.

Sitting in the darkness, Dean realized that he had a choice. Every day, Alastair laid down his blade and gave Dean a choice. Sam, on the other hand, wasn't really given a choice. Dean came back from hell and was less than understanding, Ruby was a lying bitch who used Sam's vulnerability for her own gain, and even Bobby suggested that Sam might be better off using his powers. Sam, thought Dean, never had a chance.

"Feeling sorry for yourself, again?" came a British accent from Dean's right.

Dean jumped and hit his head on the roof of the Impala. Immediately, the impact brought pain and Dean touched the top of his head to make sure that there wasn't blood.

"Don't worry," said Crawley in a smug voice, "what's left of your brain is still intact."

Dean turned and glared. "We're not the morons this time!" he snapped. "The Colt didn't work on Lucifer."

"And you expected me to know that?" asked Crawley. "Christ, man, "I'm a salesman, not a gun historian." "It was you lot who were convinced it would kill him."

Dean sighed. Crawley, however much he distrusted the demon, was right. Legend said that the Colt could kill anything. Who knew that there were five creatures on earth it couldn't kill and that Lucifer was one of them?

"Why are you here?" asked Dean, who was still rubbing his head.

"To keep you morons alive and away from Lucifer," said Crawley.

"He's here?" said Dean in a slight state of panic.

"Yes," said Crawley, "and he is going to use Cas's girlfriend's soiree tomorrow to begin building his demon army."

"He's going to use the Croatoan virus" said Dean.

"Give the man a cigar!" gloated Crawley.

"What about Sam?" asked Dean.

"Lucifer knows that Sam won't say yes to him right now," said Crawley, "He's betting on Detroit six months from now."

"I don't get it," said Dean, "Why Detroit?" "Why six months from now?"

"I don't know," admitted Crawley, "but I would guess that what happens tomorrow night figures into his plans."

For a moment, they sat in silence. Then Dean spoke up. "Why are you helping us?"

Crawley smirked. "What's wrong Dean?" "Worried that I am another Ruby?"

"Are you?" asked Dean.

"No," replied a bemused Crawley, "I'm looking out for myself." Crawley grabbed the handle and turned to Dean. "Tell me," he asked, "has Lucifer killed any demons?

"Yeah," replied Dean, "at Carthage."

"Told you," said Crawley, "in hell, you only look out for yourself." Crawley winked at Dean, "That's a lesson you learned pretty quickly from what I hear."

With that, Crawley opened the door and got out. He leaned in with a grin. "Tell Cas he's putting his girlfriend in danger."

Dean looked concerned. "What do you mean?"

"Ever hear the story of the nephilim?" asked Crawley. Dean nodded. Crawley went on. "Lucifer will use this girl to his advantage if Cas takes advantage of her." "You have to protect her Dean."

Dean's mouth dropped open. Crawley checked his watch. "If I were you, I would drive to Imani's house now. Cas is about to make his move." Crawley grinned. "Maybe I should go by and watch."

Dean looked appalled and Crawley laughed. Then he turned and started walking toward the main road and disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

_Main Street_

Sam walked down the street in long, angry strides. He was having difficulty keeping his rage under control. He knew that he shouldn't be so angry at Dean, but he couldn't help it. He was not angry that Dean tortured people. As horrifying as it was to admit, Sam understood that Dean really didn't have a choice given his circumstances; however, two things bothered Sam. First, that Dean spent the last year or so judging Sam for his actions. Sam knew that there was nothing he could ever do make up for the pain and horror he inflicted when he was under Ruby's control, but given Dean's own circumstances, Sam had issues with the continuing judgment that Dean inflicted on him. Second, seeing the swastika made Sam realize how much Dean enjoyed torturing people. No matter what happened during his time with Ruby, Sam never enjoyed the actions he had to take. Damn, thought Sam, at least, I thought I was helping people.

Suddenly, Sam stopped. What am I doing, he thought to himself, when I am going to get over myself? Yes, Dean was judgmental, but Dean was usually like that when he was scared. Sam knew Dean well enough to know that. Also, as much as Sam hated to admit it, Dean was right about Ruby. Sam didn't want to see it. As much as he blamed it on his demon blood addiction, Sam knew that it was much more: power. He loved how powerful he felt by using his powers, by drinking the demon blood, and by defying his own better nature. Sam breathed in the cold night air. Tomorrow night was a joke, he thought to himself. Sam knew he would go, after all, he had given Cas's girlfriend his word that he would be there. But, he knew that however much he and Dean begged for forgiveness, that neither one of them deserved it.

Still, it did hurt Sam that Dean only reunited with him because he had been afraid that Sam would say yes to Lucifer. Sam's experience with Ruby had taught him the true meaning of Lucifer's power and the thought of the angel wearing his skin made him sick. No matter what happened, Sam knew that he could never give into Lucifer.

Pulling out his cell phone, Sam thought about calling Dean, but decided to leave it for tonight. A lot was said, thought Sam, and it was usually better for them to stay apart until they could cool off. Hitting his stride again, Sam continued walking until he found a motel. Jimmying the lock on one of the rooms, he went in. The room smelled of slight decay, but the sheets appeared clean and the bathroom actually had running water. Taking a shower, Sam felt even more drained. Lying down, he went to sleep and had a nightmare. Lucifer had summoned the townspeople of Point Pleasant to Main Street. Cas, Dean and Sam go to confront Lucifer who has taken Imani hostage and tortured her. They are forced to watch as Lucifer slices open her belly and a child falls out. Then Meg casts a spell on the child and from this child the Croatoan virus is unleashed. Sam could hear Imani's screams as he woke up shaking. No, thought Sam, it is just a dream. It can't be real. Reaching for his phone, he called Dean.

_Route 2_

Dean cursed the inventor of the GPS. The damn thing never seemed to work. Imani had given him and Sam her address as a place they could stay. Dean plugged it into the GPS, and now the damn thing had frozen up. Dean pounded on it, and the machine shut off.

"Great!" exclaimed Dean. Now he was stuck on Route 2 in the middle of nowhere West Virginia and had no idea where he was or how to get back to town. Grabbing his cell phone, he looked for a signal and couldn't find one. Disgusted, Dean threw his cell phone in the seat next to him. What else could possibly go wrong tonight?

Suddenly, the Impala went dead. Dean tried everything, but the car wouldn't start. Great, thought Dean, no GPS, no cell phone and now no car. Putting the brakes on, Dean grabbed his phone, gun and backpack and decided to start walking. He had no sooner locked the car than he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey Dean," purred a female voice behind him, "has your old junk heap finally given out?"

Dean gritted his teeth and the demon's name barely came out, "Meg."

Dean turned around to see Meg, wearing the same outfit she had on in Carthage, but now the woman she was wearing had burns all over her torso. Dean was shocked.

"Who did that to you?" asked Dean.

"Your friend, Cas," she said through gritted teeth.

Dean suddenly grinned. When he first met the angel, Cas was completely uptight, but since being thrown out of heaven, the angel has changed and in Dean's opinion, it was for the better. Still, thinking of Cas, reminded him that he needed to get to Imani's house to make sure that nothing happened between her and Cas.

"Well," said Dean with a smirk, "I have to give it to Cas."

"Oh you do," said Meg responding with a smirk of her own, "I can't wait to give it to him too."

Dean's smirk faded. Meg had a maniacal gleam in her eye that worried Dean. Since the death of Azazael, Meg had been looking for another father figure and with the rise of Lucifer, she now had the ultimate father figure with Lucifer walking the earth, Dean figured that Meg had completely lost it. Meg, he knew, would want to get revenge on Cas and that Imani would be caught in the crossfire. Crawley was right, thought Dean, he owed Imani and her life was in his hands. Looking at Meg, he knew that reasoning with her was out, so he decided that Meg needed to know the truth about daddy.

"Your father killed demons at Carthage," said Dean.

Meg's face went cold. Even in the dark, Dean could see that her eyes went black and her white teeth gnashed together and gleamed in the darkness. Without warning, she used her powers and slammed Dean against the trunk of the Impala where she held him. Unable to move, Dean had to endure it while Meg climbed on it and sat on his waist.

Realizing how uncomfortable Dean was, Meg grinned. "Oh Dean," she smiled, "I thought you loved being in this position."

"I'd rather be castrated," Dean replied.

Meg pulled a knife from her boot, and put it against Dean's waist. "I can always arrange that."

Seeing Dean's sudden discomfort, Meg laughed and suddenly lowered her head to Dean's. Dean tried to move but Meg had him effectively pinned. Dean could feel her breath, and it smelled like death. When he first returned from hell, Dean spent hours in the shower trying to scrub that smell off of his body. Grabbing his chin, Meg forced Dean to look at her. Her face, while not burnt, was grotesque to him.

"My father is going to make that angel pay for what he did to me," said Dean. "By taking the one thing that he loves the most."

"She's a person," snapped Dean, "not a thing."

Meg grinned. "There won't be much left of her by the time my father is finished with her."

Dean moved his head so he was close to Meg's face. "I won't allow that."

"Aww," sneered Meg, "is your guilt getting to you?"

Dean's jaw clenched. Yes, he thought, I have a lot of guilt that I am drowning in, but I will not allow an innocent woman to die. Staring into Meg's black eyes, Dean thought, for a moment, about the number of innocent people who died as a result of this long war between the demons and angels, heaven and hell. Good people, like his parents, grandparents and even Cas's girl, were innocent victims. In that moment, Dean hated God. He hated him for deserting heaven and leaving angels ill-equipped to deal with running a world. He hated him for not killing Lucifer outright. He hated him for the millions of deaths that occurred in the world with people praying in vain for God to help them.

"Ohh, Dean," Meg savagely whispered, "is that hate I see in your eyes?"

"Yes," said Dean, "but not for you."

"Your God," she smiled, "Angry that your father deserted you, jealous that my father is alive."

"Your father," said Dean with a grin, "is no better than mine." "He takes what he wants and leaves you with nothing." His grin got bigger. "If I were you, I would take Crawley's advice and look out for yourself."

Meg's smile faded somewhat and the savagery of her joy seemed to go out of her. To Dean's surprise, Meg climbed off of him and walked backwards until she was about a foot away from him. Underneath him, the Impala roared to life. Meg smiled, "Enjoy your air of superiority Dean, by tomorrow night, you'll be weeping when you see the power of what my father is going to unleash on this world."

With that, Meg vanished. Dean pushed himself of front of the car and stood somewhat shakily on his legs. Oh God, he thought to himself, how do we stop a demon army?

_Imani's house_

Cas woke up to the smell of flowers.

Imani was wrapped in his arms, and Cas had his face buried in her hair. He smiled, remembering that Imani's favorite perfume was called Heavenly Blossom. The scent reminded him of fields of blossoms in heaven where he use to spend time with other angels. At least, he thought, until things fell apart between Michael and Lucifer. For the last 2,000 years, Cas had to watch as his home, heaven, fell apart, with God disappearing, and leaving Cas in a home full of angry, embittered angels. In some ways, he thought, being sent to earth to serve a purpose had been a blessing. Running his fingers through Imani's curly, soft hair, he smiled in realizing that it had been a great blessing.

Imani murmured in response and wrapped her arms around him. The softness of her breasts pressed his bare chest, and Cas was surprised to feel his body become immediately aroused again. Sex had been a wonderful surprise to him. Although he had always wanted to experience it, unlike other angels, Cas did not use his vessel to do so. He wanted to experience it on his terms and with the right person as God had decreed it in his teachings. After his vessel's death, Cas felt that Jimmy's body had become entirely his even if he did not always understand how it functioned. As such, he was free to experience sex on his own terms.

Still, he wanted it to be with the right person. Cas didn't understand angels who had sex just to experience it. God, in the earliest days of creation, had created sex to be a joining of souls. Why have sex with someone, thought Cas, just to prove a point? Within his garrison, Cas had been the subject of ridicule because he choose to wait. With Imani, Cas felt that it had been worth the wait.

"Hi baby," she cooed, getting his attention, "did you sleep okay?"

Cas leaned over and pressed his lips against hers. "I slept great." Imani deeped the kiss and pulled Cas completely on top of her. Cas felt his desire lengthen as Imani wrapped her legs around his waist. Yes, thought Cas, as he lost himself to ecstasy, it was definitely worth the wait.

_Main Street_

Sam stood out in the cold waiting for Dean to arrive. Dean had finally gotten a cell signal and got Sam's message. He agreed to come back to town so he and Sam could figure out how Lucifer was going to raise his demon army and where Imani and Cas's relationship figured into that. Although neither said anything, Sam and Dean knew this alliance between them was only temporary as there were still trust issues that needed to be addressed. For now, Sam and Dean were united by their desire to save the townspeople of Point Pleasant, Cas's girlfriend and stop the creation of a demon army that would kill over 6 billion people on their planet.

It was a lot to deal with.

From a distance, Sam could hear the roar of the Impala as it was driving up. He looked around his environment, as his father had always taught him, but saw or heard no one. That bothered Sam a great deal. He understood Imani's point. That these people were shadows of their former selves and needed help, but, thought Sam, what if it was too late to help them? Even worse, thought Sam, why had they not seen anyone since arriving? Tapping on his bag, Sam had accumulated evidence that he thought might help him and Dean figure things out.

The Impala stopped by Sam and he opened the door and got in. Sam had found a restaurant, down the street from his motel, where he and Dean could make sandwiches, coffee and talk in some privacy. Dean steered the car down the street slowly. He sighed.

"Don't think it's weird that we haven't seen one person, besides Imani, since we have been here?" asked Dean.

"Actually, I was just thinking that," said Sam with a grin.

Dean smiled back and then suddenly became serious. "I'm sorry, Sam."

Sam's smile faded a bit, but he managed to say, "Me, too."

Dean reached the restaurant and parked in front. Shouldering their equipment, Dean and Sam went in. While Dean set up their computers, Sam made sandwiches, soup and coffee. By the time, Sam finished, Dean had everything up and running.

Dean grabbed a sandwich and bit down, "Okay, let's treat this like any hunt: what do we know?"

"Well," said Sam, "we know that Lucifer is here to raise his army." "We know that there is a link between Imani, Cas and the Nephilim."

"So," said Dean, "we don't know the link between the nephilim and the raising of Lucifer's army."

"Exactly," replied Sam. "Did you reach Cas?"

Suddenly, Dean looked tired. "Yeah," he said quietly, "he sounded really happy."

"Like I just got laid happy?" asked Sam.

"Yeah," said Dean sounding grim.

Sam shook his head, still not quite seeing the connection between the nephilim and Lucifer's demon army. Why would it matter whether Castiel had sex with a human woman? How did this act lead to the unleashing of the Crotoan virus? Sam shut his eyes for a moment. None of it made sense.

"Alright," said Dean, "I have nothing." "So what about this dream of yours?" Dean rubbed his eyes. "Maybe there are some clues there."

Sam leaned back and stretched his arms. "Well," he began, "you, Cas and I were on Main Street and Lucifer was there with Imani and the townspeople. The townspeople were in their normal state, but they appeared to be in a trace. Lucifer had Imani and she looked. . ."

Dean leaned forward, "Looked like what?"

Sam look embarrassed, "Pregnant." Sam looked thoughtful for a moment, "in fact, she was heavily pregnant, I would say that she was about 7 to 9 months along."

"Sam, you have to have that wrong," said Dean, "She's not pregnant, certainly not _that_ pregnant."

"She was in my dream," said Sam. "Wait a minute."

"What?" asked Dean. "You've thought of something?"

Sam opened his laptop and clicked on some files. "According to legend, the nephilim were a group of angels who fell from grace because they desired human women."

"Yeah," said Dean, "that's a pretty well-known fact."

"Why did Cas fall from grace?" asked Sam.

"To help us," said Dean, "and he was tired of their b.s."

"Do you really believe that is the only reason?" asked Sam incredulously.

"Well. . ." began Dean now looking confused, "why else would he rebel?" "Cas was as faithful and loyal as they come." Dean took a swig of coffee. "Even now, he is trying to find God and almost killed a kid because he was the antichrist."

Sam looked pained. "I hate to tell you this, but Cas told me that he saved Imani from hell when he saved you."

"Okay," shrugged Dean, "what's the big deal about that?"

Sam sat up and looked straight at his brother. "She was on the table and you were. . ."

Dean's face went pale. "Oh," was all he could manage as he began to root around his bag.

"Cas pulled her out at the same time," continued Sam, "and brought her home."

Dean began pouring some Jack Daniels into his coffee. "Yeah, so?"

"He fell for her," said Sam, "he told me that he always wanted to have a relationship with a woman, but never had the occasion."

"Until now," said Dean taking a long swig of his coffee.

"Yeah," said Sam leaning over and taking the Jack Daniels bottle away from Dean. "You see, Cas was in love with a human woman when he fell which puts him in the category of the Nephilim."

Dean suddenly sat up. "That means, that any child they would have together would be half angel, half human."

"Exactly," said Sam, pouring some Jack Daniels into his own coffee, "and such a child would be considered an abomination by heaven."

"But it still doesn't answer how Meg uses the child to unleash the virus," said Dean. "It also doesn't answer how this is supposed to happen tomorrow night."

"I know," said Sam, "there is no way that a fetus can grow that fast over night." "That's why I called Bobby."

"How's he going to get in touch with us?" asked Dean, "You can't get a cell signal in this town."

"I'm using a satellite link on my laptop," said Sam, who was clicking on his laptop. "Yeah, Bobby sent something." Sam began reading and his face went pale. "It looks like there is a spell that Meg can use on the baby that would unleash its power in the form of a virus."

"A baby could do that?" asked Dean skeptically, "It doesn't seem possible."

"Children are very powerful in biblical lore," Sam pointed out, "look at the impact of a baby who was born 2,000 years ago."

"Or the impact of your birth," said Dean. Leaning forward, he looked at Sam. "Your birth changed everything."

Sam's eyes dropped to his lap. "Yeah, and not for the better, look at what I've become." He looked back up at Dean, "Or what I could become."

"Sammy," said Dean, "I know that I've been a dick." Sam's stare sharpened, "but I've never regretted being your brother." Sam managed a smile and the tension seemed to lift between them.

"What about the baby's size?" asked Dean. "There's no way that it can grow that fast in 24 hours."

Sam's face turned grim as he read the rest of Bobby's e-mail. "Apparently, the child of an angel-human union can grow that quickly."

"God, this is bad," said Dean. "Still, we know what the hunt is now."

Sam nodded in agreement. "The question is what do we do about it?"

"First," said Dean, "we need to get Cas's girl out of here."

Sam shook his head. "That won't work Dean." "Lucifer will just track her down."

"No," said a voice behind them, "it won't work."

"Cas," said Dean, "what are you doing here?"

"Dude," chimed in Sam, "you look awful."

"It's Imani," said Cas, "something is very wrong."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"What's wrong Cas," asked Sam, "Is Imani okay?"

"No," said Cas, sitting down, "something is very wrong with her."

"It's the pregnancy," said Dean, "That's what's happening to her."

Cas looked confused. "What do you mean, pregnancy?"

"When was the last time you slept with her?" asked Dean.

Cas looked horrified. "That's none of your . . ."

"We know that Cas," said Sam, "we wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

"Speak for yourself," retorted Dean as both Sam and Cas ignored him.

Cas rubbed the back of his neck, something Dean and Sam noted, that he always seemed to do when he was upset. "It was about 2 hours ago."

"How has she been since then?" asked Sam.

Cas looked down at his hands and then looked up at Sam. "She became violently sick and then her body began changing." He shook his head as if he was trying to find a way to understand what was happening. "Her stomach is growing." He looked up at Sam with pleading eyes. "She's in pain, and I don't know what to do."

Sam nodded and looked at Dean, who shrugged helplessly. "Honestly, Cas, we don't have an answer for you." Sam sat down in front of Cas and looked at the forlorn angel. "Cas, I know how you feel." "It's hard to see the woman you love suffer." Sam looked over at Dean. "I was wrong." "I think we need to get her out of town."

"Dude, you said it. Lucifer will be waiting for us," said Dean.

"I know Dean," said Sam, "we need to find a way to get her out of here or he will kill her and her baby." "A stand and fight approach against Lucifer, and a demon army are not going to work."

"Sam," said an exasperated Dean, "where can we go?"

"Stop," ordered Cas, his voice sounding heavy with exhaustion, "I will go and get her ready." "Getting her out of here is the only solution." He looked at Dean. "Bring your car." He handed Dean a slip of paper. "Here are the directions to her house."

Cas stood up. Dean noticed that for the first time that Cas looked scared. It surprised Dean since Cas had battled through everything without ever losing his stoic demeanor. Maybe, thought Dean, now, thought Dean sadly, Cas actually felt like he had something to lose: his girl and his baby.

Dean walked over to Cas and put his hand on the angel's shoulder. "I promise Cas," he said, "we will protect your girl and your baby." "Nothing will happen to them." Dean looked over at Sam who offered no reassurances. Perhaps, thought Dean, there were none to offer.

"Come on," said Sam, "let's pack up and go and get Imani."

Sam, Dean and Cas packed up and left the restaurant. Cas used his angel powers to get back to Imani's house. Armed with directions from Cas, Dean drove the Impala to Imani's house while Sam tried to contact Bobby. The sun was beginning to set below the horizon.

It's going to be a long night, thought Dean.

_Imani's house_

Imani had never felt this bad. Never. Not when she had a cyst on her ovary explode when she was 16. Not when she endured two kidney surgeries by 25. Not even when she was in hell and Dean tortured her by removing her vital organs each day which resulted in her death. And not even when she had to wake up in hell the next day only to have to endure the same torture over again. Her mother always told Imani that childbirth was horrible, but what Imani was experiencing now was beyond that. This was soul-crushing.

The child growing inside of her was not growing normally, but at an exponential rate. Imani could feel the baby's arms forming and pushing up and out through her ribs. She could feel the baby's feet pushing down through her bladder. The pain of the baby's quick growth was beyond what she could endure, yet all she could think about is the baby. What would the baby look like? Would it have Cas's eyes? Would it have her long, curly hair? Even more important, what kind of powers would it have? Imani longed to see the baby even though she knew that she might not live through the process of giving birth.

Another sharp pain ripped through her body, and she laid her head down on the floor, hoping the cold tile would help her cope with the intense fever now raging through her body. Instead, the cold tile was a shock, causing her to force herself back up. When she did so, the baby kicked hard into her abdomen. "Baby," she whispered, rubbing her belly, "you've got to take it easy on mom."

Suddenly, the baby stopped moving. For a moment, Imani feared that something was wrong. Rubbing her belly again, she whispered to the baby. In her mind, images appeared from the baby. Imani saw beautiful meadows, sun-dappled skies, and even felt something she had not experienced in a long time: joy. "It's heaven," she whispered to her baby, "you're showing me heaven."

"Heaven?" queried a voice from above her.

Imani looked up at Cas. He looked grim-faced and sad. Imani felt fear rise within her, but pushed it down. She attempted to stand up, but the weight of a growing baby was too much for her small frame. Cas leaned down and gently helped her up. As he did so, her body leaned into his and her belly pressed against his own. Gently, Imani took Cas's hands and put them on her belly. "Feel that," said Imani, "that's our baby."

Cas felt the baby moving in her belly and for a moment, he closed his eyes. The baby almost felt full grown, and he knew that within a couple of hours, the baby would be born and that Imani would not survive the birth. Cas, at that moment, hated himself. He hated himself for giving in to his own lust. He wanted Imani for himself as soon as he saw her. Yes, he had fallen from grace, in part, because he believed that humanity did not deserve to be destroyed, but he had also done so because his heart belonged to a small slip of a human woman from Point Pleasant, West Virginia.

The baby was sending him images, but these were not images of heaven, but of Imani being sacrificed by Lucifer and the child unleashing the Croatoan virus. Cas opened his eyes as he could feel his child weeping for his mother whose life was about to end, and Cas wanted to join him. Imani softly cupped Cas's face. "I know that I won't survive this Cas."

"Imani," whispered Cas, "don't."

"It doesn't matter," said Imani, "you gave me everything I ever wanted: love, a child, hope." Suddenly, Imani grinned, "and of course, great sex."

Cas tried to smile at that, but he felt tears begin to form at the corners of his eyes. "Cas," said Imani, "No matter what happens I will always love you." Cas smiled and ran his fingers through her curly long hair, "and I will always love you."

There was a knock at the front door. Cas looked at Imani. "We need to get you out of here." He guided her out of the bathroom. "Can you pack some clothes?" She nodded and Cas went downstairs to answer the door. It was the Winchesters.

Opening the door, Sam and Dean looked as grim-faced as Cas felt. "Is your girl ready?" asked Dean. "We don't have a lot of time."

"Cas!" came a scream from above them.

Cas, Sam and Dean tore up the stairs. Imani was standing with Meg behind her holding a knife to her belly, and next to them, stood Lucifer with a big smile on his face.

"Thanks, Cas," said Lucifer, stroking Imani's belly, "because of you, the apocalypse can commence in true fashion."

Meg began to giggle, and she pressed her knife hard against Imani's belly. Imani let out a cry as blood began to appear. She looked at Lucifer for some mercy. "Please," she begged, "do what you want to me, but don't hurt my baby."

Lucifer turned to face Imani and cupped her face with his hands. For a moment, he said nothing as he appeared to consider her. Lucifer ran his fingers through Imani's long, curly locks as Cas had done. Suddenly, he smiled. "I can see why he was so taken with you." Suddenly, without warning, Lucifer leaned down and kissed Imani on the lips. As he did so, they vanished, followed by a still-giggling Meg.

_Main Street_

Dean steered slowly down Main Street. He and Sam had their flashlights out scanning the building. Cas was walking beside the car, using his angel senses to scan the buildings, but so far there was nothing. Dean stopped the car and he and Sam got out of the car. Cas stood in front of the car while Sam and Dean got their weapons out. Walking up to Cas, Dean and Sam stared into the darkness waiting for a sign of life, but so far, there was nothing.

"Cas," asked Dean, "do you sense anything?"

"No," said Cas in a broken voice, "nothing."

"We'll find her Cas," said Sam, who looked at Dean, "we need to split up and do a comprehensive search."

Dean looked upset. "Sam, we can't . . ."

Sam looked short with Dean. "Dean, we don't have time to argue." He looked over at Cas. "A woman and a baby's lives are at stake."

"Sam" began Dean.

"Dean," snapped Sam, "we owe Imani this much."

"Dean," joined in Cas, "you owe Imani for what you did to her in hell."

Dean's heart stopped. He couldn't believe that Cas would say that to him. Yet, in looking at Cas, Dean felt sorry for the angel. He could see Cas's intense pain at the loss of his girl and his baby. Dean knew that if he were in Cas's position, he would tear apart this town until there was nothing left.

"Okay, Cas, Sam," said Dean nodding in their direction, "we'll split up." Dean readjusted the pack on his back and turned to move north. He added. "Call me on the cell if you find her or . . ." He paused and looked at Sam. "anything else."

Sam nodded and turned to move south, while Cas stayed on Main Street and started going through the buildings there. In the distance, a dog howled in the cold night air.

_North of Main Street _

Dean trekked north of Main Street. He kept vigilant watch for any sign of Imani, but so far, he found nothing. He thought about Imani and what happened between them in hell. Day after day, Alastair would put down his blade, after he finished torturing Dean, and day after day, Dean told him to go to hell. Then one day, Dean was simply unable to take the torture. It was on that day that Alastair brought Imani before him and offered Dean a choice: Alastair could continue torturing Dean or Dean could get off the table and torture his first victim. Dean looked into Imani's big dark eyes and tried to find some semblance of mercy in himself. It wasn't there anymore. Dean got off the table and pick up Alastair's blade. He ordered Imani strapped to the table and ignoring her pleas for mercy plunged the blade into her stomach. Even now, Dean could still hear her screams. He closed his eyes and stopped for a moment. Now, he could remember ordering that Imani be brought to him every day. After a time, she stopped begging and would lie on the table passively staring at him. Opening his eyes, Dean stared into the darkness and wondered how Imani could forgive him. He didn't deserve it.

"Feeling sorry for yourself again," said a snide British voice behind him.

Dean sighed and turned to face the demon. "Crawley," he snapped, "what do you want?"

"World peace?" quipped the demon with a snide smile, "but for now, I will settle for you taking your head out of your ass."

"Look," snapped Dean, "I don't have time for your crap." He pointed his gun at Crawley. "A woman and her baby are missing, and Lucifer is going to use them to unleash his demon army."

"Ahh," said Crawley, "the Croatoan virus." He smirked. "Well, what are you going to do about it?"

"Save the girl and her baby," replied Dean.

Crawley laughed out loud. "What is this?" "Heroes?" "Save the cheerleader, save the world?" Crawley began to laugh harder. "Can you be any more of a moron?"

"Look dimwit," said Crawley, "it is now past time to save this woman." "Don't you see?" "She is pregnant with a child that is half human and half angel." "A child that is going to be born tonight." "There is nothing you can do to stop what is going to happen."

Dean's face went savage. "Look here, you son-of-a-bitch, I am not going to let that woman and her baby die." Dean got close enough to Crawley to shoot him. "This isn't guilt; this is the right thing to do, for her, her baby and Cas."

"Even if you succeed," replied Crawley, ignoring the gun, "God will never allow this child, its mother or the angel to live."

"God is dead." said Dean rather coldly. "Isn't that what everyone is saying anyway?" "If that's the case, then we, humans, have to take responsibility for each other since angels and demons are bent on destroying us."

Crawley looked at Dean thoughtfully. "Well, well, Dean Winchester actually has balls." Crawley grinned as Dean truly contemplated shooting him. "Lucifer took the girl to the gym." "He and his demons have gathered all of the population of this town and will march with the girl on Main Street." Crawley paused for a moment. "That is where he will unleash the army."

Dean backed off from Crawley. "What's in this for you?" "Besides survival?"

"One day," said Crawley, "you will find out." With that, he vanished.

Grabbing his cell phone, Dean called Sam and then Cas to meet back at the car. Breaking into a jog, Dean ran back to the car. He looked up at the night sky and saw that the moon was high in the sky. He began to run faster. They were running out of time.


	6. Chapter 6

_Point Pleasant High School Gym_

Dean parked in front of the gym and all three of them noticed that the gym was lit up and seemed to buzz with human activity.

"It looks like the people of Point Pleasant have finally woken up," said Sam.

"Yeah," said Dean, "that's so not good for us."

Before either of them could say anything else, Cas was out of the car and walking up toward the gym.

"That is so not good for us either" said Dean as he and Sam got out of the car and hurried after their angel friend. They barely reached Cas in time before the angel burst through the doors of the gym. Sam cringed when he saw that all of the townspeople were standing in formation staring at the stage. Imani was strung up on a cross. She appeared to be unconscious and her belly was now grossly distended. Meg was sharpening her knives and appeared to be giggling manically. Lucifer appeared to be nowhere in sight.

Before they could stop him, Sam ran up to stage and stood before the microphone. Surprisingly, no one seemed to protest and even Meg watched him with no more than abiding interest. "People of Point Pleasant," said Sam, sounding eerily like the politician he had hoped to become, "my name is Sam Winchester." "Many of you know me." For a moment, Sam faltered. "I sent many of you to hell." He stood up straight. "I am here to apologize to you for any pain that I may have caused." For a moment, the air in the room seemed to still. Then behind Sam came clapping.

Sam didn't even have to turn around to know that it was Lucifer. "Aww," said Lucifer, "that was touching." He smiled and came around to stand directly next to Sam.

"But it doesn't matter," Lucifer added, "I am going to kill her and her baby, and in six months, you are going to say yes to me."

"I will never say yes to you," said Sam with more confidence than he felt, "I have something that you don't have: friends."

"I told you before Lucifer," said Cas, who was standing next to his unconscious girlfriend, "I will die before I let you take Sam Winchester."

"And a brother," said Dean who was walking up to the stage, "who will die for him."

From their left, Meg began clapping and then clasped her hands to her heart. "Aren't you guys so sweet?" She looked over at Lucifer who stared at her with a bemused expression. "What do you think father?"

Lucifer picked up his knife and swung around to look at Castiel who had untied Imani and had her in his arms. "I think the girl and her baby will die." He then turned and pointed his knife at Sam. "I think you will say yes to me in Detroit in six months." Finally, he turned to Dean. "In five years time, I will snap your neck like a twig while Sam watches in agony unable to do anything about it."

As Lucifer turned, Cas took a baseball bat and swung and hit him in the head. The bat shattered into pieces. Lucifer fell directly onto the floor while Meg and the demons screamed collectively. Sam, who was holding Imani in his arms, ran off the stage and toward the exit. Dean began firing at the demons, who recovered from watching their leader get his skull bashed in, and were now pursuing Sam and the girl. Cas was fighting with Meg who had jumped on his back the minute he had knocked over Lucifer.

"Cas," screamed Dean, "We've got to get out of here."

"Go," yelled Cas, throwing Meg off of his back, "I'll find you."

Dean paused not wanting to leave his friend. He fired off more rounds and watched as Cas used the remnants of the bat to level Meg with a fatal blow. Cas turned and shouted at Dean. "Go!" and then he disappeared.

_The Impala_

Sam steered the Impala down out of the parking lot while Dean sat in the back with Imani. She had regained consciousness when Sam put her in the Impala and was asking for Castiel.

"Is Cas okay?" she asked weakly, staring at Dean.

"Yeah," said Dean, avoiding her gaze. "Sam, find the quickest route out of Point Pleasant."

"Dean," said Imani softly, "please look at me."

Dean managed to turn and meet her gaze. He expected to find anger. He expected that even in her condition she would want to punch him. He would accept it and welcome it and take it as he should. Instead, he found compassion and acceptance. Instead, he found a small hand reaching out to grasp his own. Imani gently took Dean's hand and put it on her belly. Underneath her clothes and skin, he could feel the baby moving. Suddenly, Dean saw images of him and Sam in Detroit fighting against Lucifer. Dean becomes wounded and Sam says yes to Lucifer to save his brother. Instead of saving Dean, Lucifer moves on and leaves Dean to die. Cas was there and he tried to stop the bleeding, but he appeared more fully human with a beard and a sawed off shotgun. Bobby was also there and had full use of his legs. He was also helping Cas apply aid to Dean. Meanwhile, Sam/Lucifer disappeared, leaving Dean to wish he had buried Sam when he had the chance.

Taking his hand off of her belly, Dean looked into Imani's compassionate eyes. "I forgive you, Dean." She gently picked up his hand. "I know the burdens that you have to bear."

Dean shook his head. Tears were forming at the corners of his eyes. "No, you couldn't possibly."

"Yes," she said, "I do." She leaned over further and cupped his face. "I hope that you find some peace at some point."

Suddenly, her body began trembling. She looked at Dean with frightened eyes. "What's happening to me?" For a moment, Dean thought she had gone into labor and then she disappeared.

"What the hell!" Dean shouted. "Sam, stop the car."

Sam brought the car to an immediate stop and he and Dean got out and looked around. Cas appeared next to the car. "Where's Imani?" he demanded. He looked inside the car and turned to glare at Dean. "I thought you were supposed to look after her."

"Cas," began Sam, but before he could finish, Cas disappeared.

Dean turned to Sam and flinched. For a moment, Dean didn't see Sam; he saw Lucifer. Dean blinked and it was Sam again. Sam looked confused by Dean's reaction to him.

"Dean," said Sam, "You okay?"

"Yeah," said Dean, getting in the car, "We need to get to Main Street."

_Main Street_

Cas walked down the center of Main Street screaming Imani's name. He knew that only one person could have taken Imani out of a moving car: Lucifer. There was no one around, but Cas could sense that demons and Lucifer were near. He could feel that Lucifer was using Cas's fear of losing his girl and baby against him, and it was working.

"Lucifer," he screamed, "you son-of-a-bitch!" "Let her go."

"Why?" asked a voice behind him.

Cas turned and saw Lucifer and his army standing behind him. Lucifer had his hand around Imani's arm and Cas could see that she was in labor.

"It's going to be okay, baby," said Cas, soothingly, "I promise."

"Cas!" pleaded Imani, "the baby . . ." "She paused as pain caused her to stop.

Lucifer smiled at Cas with a taunt. "You do realize that you brought this upon her." "All of you in heaven judged me for my disdain for humans, but you were far worse with your desire for human women." He put his hand under Imani's chin and then ran his hand down her body. "Your desire goes against everything that God commanded of you." Lucifer pulled out a knife and put it to Imani's belly. "The price of your desire must be punished."

"No," screamed Cas as Lucifer drew the blade against Imani's belly while she screamed in agony. Cas saw blood spurt from her belly as his baby fell to the ground. Imani stood for a moment, and smiled at Cas before falling to the ground. Lucifer picked up the child and began his incantation. Cas broke into a run but before he reach Lucifer, the incantation was complete and the power of the child was unleashed. Cas watched in horror as the power washed over the demons and turned them in Croats.

Cas sank to his knees. Lucifer walked up to Cas and dropped the knife. "You can hate me Castiel," he said quietly, "but you brought this upon her." "If God were still around, you know that he would do the same."

With that, Lucifer and his new army vanished. Cas looked up and saw Imani lying on the ground. Before he reached her, he knew she was dead. He walked over and gently picked her up in his arms. He placed kisses on her forehead and cheeks. "I'm so sorry, baby," he whispered, "I know that I brought this upon you."

As he rocked Imani in his arms, Cas heard the roar of the Impala behind him. Then running foot steps as Sam and Dean got out of the car. Cas looked up as he felt a strong hand on his shoulder. It was Sam, and he looked so sad and compassionate. Then Cas looked over at Dean who was silently crying. Cas opened his mouth to speak.

"Dean," he said in a broken voice, "would you get the baby?"

Dean took off his coat and walked over to where Lucifer dropped the child. The baby was fully formed, and was a boy. His eyes were open and were Cas's deep blue, but with the curly hair of his mother. The child was dead, and it broke Dean's heart to see that his small body had been ripped apart. Gently, he laid down his coat and put the child on top of it. Wrapping his coat around the child, he picked him up and took him over to Cas. He placed the child in Cas's arms. Cas held his dead child and girlfriend in his arms. He looked up at Sam and Dean with tears in his eyes. "Could you give me a minute?"

Sam squeezed Cas's shoulder. "Take all the time you need."

Sam and Dean walked back over to the Impala where the headlights were still shining on their friend. From that distance, they could see Cas holding his dead family and weeping for what had been lost.

_Point Pleasant Cemetery_

Cas, Sam and Dean stood before the funeral pyre they had constructed. Dawn had come to Point Pleasant and while the town had remained as eerily silent as when they arrived, a coldness had settled into the air, remaining all three of them that although the war had just begun, they had all lost so very much.

Cas had insisted that Imani and the child he named William be cremated. It was, he insisted, what she wanted. She wanted, he said, to be a part of the earth when she died. Cas had wrapped their bodies in a white sheet and said the Lord's Prayer. Sam and Dean stood silently while Cas lit the pyre and watched the flames build and burn.

While they watched, Dean thought about the vision William showed him. Why would the child show him that? Could he stop Detroit from happening? He looked over at Sam. Would Sam give in so easily? Dean hoped not. He hoped that after everything Sam would finally let him go. Staring into the firelight, Dean knew that he would let Sam go.

"Hey," said Sam, "where's Cas?"

Dean looked over at the spot where Cas stood, but the angel was gone. Dean suddenly felt depressed. He had let down his friend. He made promises to Cas that he had been unable to fulfill. Even worse, thought Dean, he had seen the future enough to know that Cas would change into a human.

"He'll end up a miserable bastard like the rest of us," said Dean aloud.

"What?" said Sam.

"Nothing." Said Dean. "Let's get out of here."

Sam and Dean left the funeral and got into the Impala. They decided to head for Bobby's, and let him know what was going on. It was, both brothers thought, going to be a long time before anything was good again.


End file.
